Page 13 of Justified
“I am, give me the numbers.”
I rattled them off and waited to hear back from him if it went through.About a minute later, he gave me the confirmation and I hung up.“Looks like everything went according to plan,” I said, pulling the flash drive out of my pocket and handing it over to the man.
“Thank you.Now, before you leave, you don’t mind if I check to see if this is what we’ve just paid for?”
“It better be, or what I went through last night was all for nothing,” I remarked, and gestured for him to check.He gave me a somewhat confused and curious expression before he reached over towards his briefcase and removed one of those fancy laptops that was super thin.I guess he was curious as to what could have been so difficult for me.He had no idea.I waited as he inserted the drive and confirmed its contents.
He smiled and nodded, removing the drive and putting both it and the laptop away.“It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Yeah, it was.Oh, and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need our services in the future,” I added.
“Oh, it is our hope that we will never need your services again.”He tipped his hat to me.“Good-day.”With that, he got up and walked away.
If I actually gave a damn, I might have been insulted by his last statement.I stood up and walked towards the subway, taking the train and the bus back to my home.When I arrived, I took off my leather jacket as I made a bee line for the bed.
Jordan jumped in front of me before I could hit the mattress.“Wait!I want to show you something,” he said, grinning from ear-to-ear.
“What is it, can it wait?I wanna go back to sleep.”
“It kind of can, but I’m so excited about it, I want your opinion now.I was up all night working on it.”
Ahh shit, fine.“Okay, show me.”
I let him lead me over to the sofa where one of the most horrendous things I’d ever seen was put on display before me.“What the fuck is this?”I frowned.
“Your costume.”He looked at me as if he couldn’t understand my disappointment.
I grimaced.“The fuck it is.”
“You don’t like it?”he asked with a heartbroken tone.
I shook my head.“This is absolutely the gayest shit I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen some gay shit before.”
“I thought it was bold and would make a great statement.”
“You must have been high as fuck coming up with this idea last night.Oh, it’s bold, all right, And that’s the problem.”I stared at the rainbow colored costume that my apparently fashion deficient sidekick came up with, which consisted of biker shorts and a top.The only thing he got right was the eye mask, but the color was rainbow too, so even that was wrong.
“I thought it was a great idea,” he mumbled.
I looked down at him, and I could tell I’d hurt his feelings.“Look, Jordan, it’s not like I don’t appreciate the thought and effort you put into this, but this is too flashy.Yes, I’m a proud gay man and I’ve agreed to avenge the helpless.But not while looking like a gay avenger in this rainbow nightmare.”
“I can send it back and get the money returned.”
“This looks like something a flaming drag queen would wear at a gay Pride parade,” I said, rubbing it in just a little bit more.
“Okay, I get it… you hate it.Fine.I’m sending it back.”
“Yeah, you do that.Don’t worry, I’ll come up with something to wear.Something dark, brooding, and sexy as fuck.I want to look good fighting crime,” I half joked.“For now, I want to sleep.”I leaned over, kissing his temple, then walked toward the bed, falling into it face first for some blissful rest.
When I woke up, I felt nice and rested.I had plenty of energy and I was going to need it.I climbed out of the bed and took a piss, then came out of the bathroom to search for Jordan.He wasn’t anywhere in the warehouse, so I called him.
“Where are you at?”I asked when he answered.
“On my way back with the U-haul,” he said.
Ah, that was right… I’d told him to get one today.“Okay.I might not be here when you get back, but just start packing what you can.”
“Okay.”
